IdN v18n6: Humorous Design — Design in Contempt

Who doesn't like to make people laugh? An ability to do this always adds something special to the message being conveyed, however serious its ultimate intent, and the rewards for those designers with a universal sense of humour, and technique to match, can be huge. In this issue, we have gathered together the work and words of 11 genuinely funny designers, who all have radically different approaches. If you think that you possess a prominent funny bone, their experiences may inspire you. We hope that some of them, at least, will leave you chortling or wryly smiling.

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Humorous Design

Put on a smiley face

One of the commonest acronyms spawned by the Internet generation, the letters "lol" stand for "laughing out loud" and are used in computer-generated communications such as e-mail and texting to indicate that the sender finds something funny (which often elicits a "smiley face" emoticon in reply). As any stand-up comedian will tell you, making people laugh is one of the most satisfying creative experiences you can have – and rare is the designer who does not at some point in his or her career feel the urge to tickle their viewers' funny-bone.

Being funny can be hard work, but the rewards are well worth the effort. This issue presents the illustrated thoughts of 11 top designers who all have a talent to amuse.

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Motion Gallery: Best of 2011

Annual review of the "Best of the Best"

As a farewell to 2011, we have selected 32 brilliant videos from the last five issues of Motion Gallery, which were themed around Network Branding, Projection Mapping, Mixed Media, Infographics and 8Bit Video-Games Technology, as well as from the online channel IdN Onair. This review of the best work to have appeared over the course of a year will become an annual feature.

Creative City: Buenos Aires

Where the boom is on the other foot

Known for being the birthplace of tango music and some of the most talented footballers on the planet, Buenos Aires is fast emerging from the slump caused by the country's economic crisis of less than a decade ago and is now attracting artists from Europe and the US, presently mired in their own financial depressions. Long admired as one of the most advanced cities in South America, with its marked European cultural heritage, the country's capital, which is where 90 percent of Argentinian designers are based, is undergoing a creative revival. But can it survive the fierce competition that is arising – both locally and from the spread of globalisation? We ask 10 top Buenos Aires-based designers for their views on the contemporary scene there.

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Idea: Embroidery Art

Pulling strings and embroidering the truth

When embroidery meets graphics it results in a brand-new creative outlet that pulls needles and thread and string away from the world of fashion and into the graphic-design mainstream. Rather than sewing onto lengths of material, these artists are inserting their stitches into pieces of paper – and then reproducing them in digital format. Three leading practitioners of this new take on an old art explain what it is about embroidery that so entrances them.

Featuring:

Maurizio Anzeri | Inge Jacobsen | Jazmin Berakha

Type Casting: Studio8 Design

The founders of Studio8 Design, Matt Willey and Zoë Bather, used to share a workshop in a large premises that had been divided up into units – theirs was No. 8. So when they decided to form a company and work together, Studio8 Design was the first name that occurred to them.

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Studio8 Design

Studio: A Creative Triangle

Three creatives studios from three different cities – Deutsche & Japaner from Mannheim, Germany, Forest from New York and Rosario Florio and Larissa Kasper from Switzerland – meet virutally in this issue's Studio column to showcase their respective design specialities.